Sleep Deprived
by Madame-DeathScythe
Summary: "What the hell?" Jean repeated, sounding even more incredulous. A few girls sniggered at his expression, and Connie shrugged. "Dunno…I remember Eren saying something about lack of sleep, but I don't see how that explains anything…" Strongly hinted EreMika, primarily from Armin's perspective. One-shot for now, may become a two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first fic for SnK/AoT, and since EreMika is taking over my soul, I had to write them. I'm not so sure what I think of it, personally, but it got a really good response on tumblr, so I guess it's not as bad as I thought. I'm not sure if it really counts as "romance," but I put it under that category because it's supposed to be EreMika and I wanted it to be clear that it's them as a paring not as friends or "siblings" (they are not related thank you very much). **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Snk/AoT, none of us would feel betrayed right now by a certain three (if you've read the manga you know what I mean *sobs*)**

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"What the hell?"

It was their second day of military training, and the trainees were in the mess hall, having just finished dinner. A large group of them were gathered around a table in the corner staring, perplexed, at the sight before them. "What the_hell?"_ Jean repeated, sounding even more incredulous. A few girls sniggered at his expression, and Connie shrugged. "Dunno…I remember Eren saying something about lack of sleep, but I don't see how that explains anything…" Next to them, Sasha swallowed before adding her input. "Mikasa didn't sleep either. I woke up a few times during the night, like I always do, and she was awake every time." Connie made a face at her, a cross between amused and disbelieving. "How do you know? What, did you ask her? Like," He dropped his voice to a mock whisper. "'Hey, Mikasa, you awake?'"

"That's exactly what I did."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"And she didn't kill you?"

"Nope."

"Huh," Connie remarked, nodding slowly. "She must like you or something."

Jean growled, irritated. "Whether or not she likes Sasha doesn't matter! Someone just explain to me _why_ they're doing that!" Marco placed a hand gently on Jean's shoulder, attempting to calm his friend down. "They're just sleeping, Jean. It's not like that means anything." Said boy sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I _know,_ but really, look at them! Why'd the gotta be so…so.._close?"_ He cringed at the last word, and Marco could only laugh. Jean may have been overreacting, but what he said was true.

A few tables away from them, Mikasa Ackerman was sound asleep. Her arms were crossed upon the tabletop, her head resting upon them and her shiny black hair draped over her face. This, however, wasn't the issue; next to her, Eren Jaegar was asleep as well, his arm draped sloppily over her shoulders and his head leaning against her shoulder.

"Aren't they supposed to be siblings or something?" Ymir inqired in a vaguely interested tone. Jean nodded curtly, still concentrated on the sleeping pair. Ymir scoffed and crossed her arms, leaning back slightly in her chair, a smirk painted across her lips. "Well, they sure don't act like it."

A badly suppressed laugh came from the farthest corner of the table, catching the attention of the group. "What?" Mina quipped, and Reiner looked over her shoulder at the culprit. "Armin, why the face? What's so funny?" The blond boy looked up from his book, smiling kindly. "Nothing, really," he chuckled, closing the book and setting it aside. "It's just that your reaction is exactly what I expected."

Reiner cocked an eyebrow, questioning. "Wait, what? You _expected_ this? Is that a regular occurrence or something?" Armin shook his head. "Not exactly. See, Eren and Mikasa's first meeting was…" He paused, searching for a word. "Unconventional, I guess. It's not every day that two nine year olds save each other's lives." a couple of girls gasped, and the boys looked slightly more interested. "That's so romantic!" Krista exclaimed, her blue eyes gleaming. "How'd it happen?" Armin looked down at his hands, laughing apologetically. "I think they'd rather I not tell you. They don't like to talk about it; the whole thing was pretty traumatic. Anyway, after that, Mikasa lived with them. There was no extra room, and Eren's was too small to fit another bed, so they had to share one."

At this, everyone, including the previously distracted Annie, perked up. Somehow, Armin knew that would get their attention.

"They _shared a bed?"_ Connie nearly yelled, his face alight with amusement. "What the hell went down in there?! Do you know? you gotta tell us, man!" Sasha slapped his arm. "That's disgusting, Connie!" She snapped, although she herself was giggling. "I bet the most that happened was they pushed each other off the bed," Bertholdt muttered, emitting a few laughs from the other teens. "Kind of," Armin laughed. "They've only done this once before, and they said it was hard to sleep without someone kicking them or talking to them or even swatting them in the face every few minutes," As if on cue, they looked over to Eren and Mikasa. "Quit stealing the blankets," Eren mumbled, fidgeting slightly in his sleep. Mikasa groaned and swatted at his arm. "There aren't any blankets…" She muttered. Eren made a noise that sounded vaguely like a response before they both settled down again.

"See? Like that."

At this point, everyone except Jean was holding back laughter. "Are you serious?" Tomas scoffed. "Eren can be _that_ calm? Damn, Mikasa has a serious effect on him." Annie nodded, still looking disinterested but obviously not enough to pass up taking part in the conversation. "I've noticed that he looks calmer when she's around. I thought he was just afraid she'd kill him, but guess not." A few others nodded, and Mina turned to Armin expectantly. "So? Anything else we should know?" Armin looked away, thinking. He could tell she was looking for the full story behind his friends' first meeting, but that was far too personal for him to share. So instead, he added his own input.

"Yeah, actually. I think they're kind of lying. I think they're just more comfortable with the other close by. They'll get used to it, but like you said, Eren's calmer when she's around."

As his friends began talking animatedly about this new information, Armin picked up his book quietly, glancing over the top of it at his sleeping friends, who had moved closer together in the time he'd been looking away. So much so that their position would have looked almost intimate in a different setting. He grinned to himself. When they woke up, they'd probably be beyond embarrassed, and rumors were bound to start floating around, especially with this group being the first to hear the full story. It was only their second day of training, and people were already suspicious.

Armin buried his nose in his book, realizing that the oncoming rumors would be partially his fault. _"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."_

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**So that's pretty short, I guess, but you know. I realize that the characterization of Jean is a little off at this point, but this is supposed to be set early in the series, back when Jean was still like in love with Mikasa and kind of a jerk (I love Jean, he's grown so much, but in the beginning, you have to admit he was kind of an ass). Also, I'm like 99% sure Armin is the captain of this ship, so you know. I'm thinking of writing a follow up to this one, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**And part two is written! This one's a little longer, and from the perspective of Eren this time. I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned SNK, I could give you a pretty long list of characters who would not be dead.**

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Mikasa had a funny way of waking up. She didn't yawn, she didn't rub her eyes, she didn't look groggy or take a minute to wake up fully. No, her eyes simply shot open and suddenly, it was as if she hadn't been sleeping at all.

Eren knew this better than anyone. After all, he _did_ always wake up first, which was good, because when they were younger, he would often wake up with a couple of limbs thrown unceremoniously over her sleeping form, or maybe he'd even be half on top of her, and remove himself as soon as he woke up. Then, if he remembered correctly, he would usually just wait for her to wake up, too.

Today, it seemed, was no different.

Eren woke up to find himself in the mess hall, of all places, with one arm around a sleeping Mikasa's shoulders and the other stretched across the table. He seemed to have pulled Mikasa very, _very_ close to him as he slept and found that he'd somehow managed to bury his face in her neck—or scarf, whichever—which he assumed had resulted from him using her as a pillow. This wasn't exactly new to him, as they'd repeatedly used each other as such during their childhood,but given their location, most everyone must have seen. And that was kind of embarrassing.

Not to mention, all those times when they were kids, they hadn't been nearly as _close. _

Eren glanced around briefly, his eyes darting back and forth before returning to the sleeping girl next to him. So she hadn't slept much either, then. It was weird sleeping alone after so long, and even though he hated to admit it, he felt a little less…secure. The bed just felt so _empty,_ there was almost too much room, not to mention there was no one kicking him or muttering ridiculous strings of words that didn't even make sense throughout the night. He'd get used to it, but for now, it was weird and he didn't like it.

(It was just easier to have her close by, just in case something happened.)

He huffed, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. When he woke up, Eren had thought about leaving, but Mikasa was asleep, meaning she was most definitely off guard, being the deep sleeper she was; after what happened in their childhood, Eren had a hard time trusting men around Mikasa, and he certainly didn't trust any of the males here yet, _especially_not with her. Not the way they were talking (Eren shuddered at the thought. Why did the older boys have to be so gross?). So he decided to stay until she woke up and make sure no one sketchy approached her…not that anyone around could really count as sketchy, but the way they looked her up and down was pissing him off, and that was enough reason for him.

Eren watched patiently as Mikasa's eyes popped open, as per usual, darted back and forth, taking in her surroundings, and finally, landed on him. "Evenin', sleeping beauty," He teased. She blinked, staring intently at him. "How long have I been asleep?"

Skipping the pleasantries and going straight to the point. What should he have expected, really?

Eren sighed, slightly disappointed (what, not even a "shut up" for calling her _sleeping beauty_, of all things?). "I dunno," He shrugged. "We both fell asleep. I woke up about fifteen minutes ago." Mikasa gave him a scrutinizing look, one that he'd learned to expect when he did something stupid. "Why didn't you wake me up, then?" Eren shrugged a second time. "You looked peaceful, and I figured you were tired, so I let you sleep." Mikasa shook her head, and Eren rolled his eyes a bit. _"Oh, here she goes again…"_

"You should've woken me, Eren," She mumbled, moving to stand up. Suddenly irritated, he grabbed her wrist on impulse, forcing her to sit back down. "Mikasa," He started, his voice firm. She blinked, her face remaining expressionless, as his bright green eyes practically drilled a hole into her head. Neither of them spoke. They simply stared, waiting for the other to crack.

Eren's head was reeling. Why he'd started thinking about it now, of all times, was a mystery to him, but nonetheless, her telling him to wake her up when he'd specifically said why he didn't reminded him of how damn stubborn she really was. So she thought he didn't notice, did she? Thought he hadn't noticed that she was constantly stressed and tired and it was obviously because of him? Frankly, he was a little insulted; did she really think he didn't care enough to notice the slight slump in her usually perfect posture, the worsening bags under her eyes, the stress in her voice, so obvious it was nearly palpable? Of course he did. He always did. And it worried him a little more than he'd like to admit.

"Mikasa," Eren repeated, vaguely annoyed by her lack of expression. "You're stressed. You're tired. Don't try to tell me you're not, because I can tell. And I know it's because of me, I'm not stupid," He paused, reconsidering. "Okay, no, I _am_ kind of stupid sometimes. And it's stressing you out. I'm sorry. I'll try to be better, I promise. But you have to be better, too," Mikasa raised her eyebrows, signaling for him to continue, but she didn't interrupt. "You need to stop worrying about _me_all the time and worry about _you._ You spend so much of your time fussing over me and making yourself crazy that you forget to take care of yourself. Relax. Take a breather. It won't kill either of us if you do."

They were silent for a moment, and Mikasa averted her eyes, "Sorry…but what does any of that have to do with waking me up?" Eren smiled to himself. "I said you looked peaceful, remember? That's such a rare thing these days, I didn't want to ruin it." She nodded, understanding. "Thank you, Eren," She whispered, a smile in her voice, as she rose from her seat. Eren followed in suit. "I think I'll get back to the girls' barracks now and try to get a proper night's sleep." Eren nodded. "Good idea. I'll walk you back over there," She was about to question him, but he cut her off. "A lot of the guys around here are kind of giving you the eye. I don't trust them." Mikasa smiled, and Eren found that he couldn't help but do the same. That, too, was a rare sight lately.

They started out of the mess hall, and Eren smirked. "Of course, it's going to take a while to get used to sleeping without _someone_ kicking me all night." Mikasa's face remained blank as she turned to him. "That's true. But it'll be even harder getting used to sleeping without_someone else_half on top of me."

Eren was so flustered by her comment that he missed the sudden explosion of noise from the group in the far corner.

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**So...as good as the first chapter? I was worried about this one seeming OOC as well at first, but I think Eren would say something like that to Mikasa, he'd just sound snappish and irritated. He really does care, and I think he worries about her more than he'd ever admit. I think the reason he gets so mad at her, aside from his pride of course, is because he's frustrated that she never takes her own safety or health into consideration, she only worries about him, and I think he's actually terrified that she'll get hurt one day, or worse, he'll end up losing her. Because if you think about it, if she died, Eren might just lose it entirely. She is pretty much all he's got, after all. They have a really complicated relationship, but whether you see them as romantic or platonic, there's a lot of love there, from both ends.**

**Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this one, and thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, and left reviews!**


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